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Recent News & Accomplishments

PhD student Elissa Redmiles has been named a Facebook Fellow for 2017. She joins twelve other fellows this year. The fellowship was started six years ago “to encourage and support promising doctoral students engaged in innovative and relevant research across computer science and engineering.” Redmiles’ advisor is Assistant Professor Michelle Mazurek of Computer Science and the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. “This year we received over 800 applications from promising PhD students,” said Rebekkah Hogan, Fellowship Program Manager. “The 2017 Fellows represent...

On February 21st 2017, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named its newest class of Sloan Research Fellows. This year, the Computer Science Department has the distinct honor of having two members of this year’s class of fellows: Assistant Professor Jon Froehlich and Assistant Professor Tom Goldstein.

Principal Lecturer Dr. Jan Plane has been named a University of Maryland Woman of Influence by the President's Commission on Women's Issues . Emerita Professor Ellin Scholnick, Faculty Ombuds Officer and Chair of the President's Commission on Women's Issues noted "We had a very strong pool of nominees, and Dr. Plane stood out among them as a true Woman of Influence." Plane is the Director for the Maryland Center for Women in Computing (MCWIC). She heads the Computer Science Connect Program , a program that introduces middle school girls to computer science through fun, challenging, and...

Professor Aravind Srinivasan has been named a fellow the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) for major contributions to algorithms, the uses of randomisation in algorithms, randomness in networks, and the real-world applications of these topics. Founded in 1972, The European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) is an international organization which facilitates the exchange of ideas and results among theoretical computer scientists. A full list of EATCS are listed here: http://eatcs.org/index.php/eatcs-fellows

Professor Atif Memon has received funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for enhancing sensitivity of combinatorial clinical outcomes for progressive multiple sclerosis by incorporating naturalistic granular data collected by smartphone/tablet/wearables technologies. Current drug development for progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) is limited due to inability to measure with high sensitivity and specificity loss of neurological functions caused by damage to brain and spinal cord. Memon will work towards enhancing the sensitivity of such combinatorial clinical...

In May 2017, Jagdeep Singh,’86, Qiang Yang Ph.D.,’89 and Rajiv Gandhi Ph.D.,’03 will be inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame. Jagdeep Singh Jagdeep Singh is cofounder and CEO of QuantumScape Corporation, a startup working on a fundamental disruption in the energy storage sector. Prior to founding QuantumScape, he was cofounder and CEO of Infinera Corp (NASDAQ: INFN), developer of the world’s first large-scale photonic integrated circuits and optical transmission systems based on these chips. At Infinera, Singh led the company to the number one market share position in North America. Shortly...

Daniel Abadi, a world-renowned expert in databases, is set to join the Department of Computer Science in July of 2017 as the Darnell-Kanal Professor of Computer Science. The professorship was established by Mr. Christopher Darnell, to honor Emeritus Professor of computer science, Laveen Kanal. "We are delighted to welcome Daniel as the Darnell-Kanal Professor,” said Samir Khuller, the Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair of Computer Science. “He is a world leader in the area of databases and high volume transaction processing, and Maryland is rather fortunate to land him. Daniel also has an...

In spring of 2016, Juliana Lu-Yang, a senior at Montgomery Blair High School Magnet program, contacted PhD student Elissa Redmiles to work with the high school's new programming club for women. Redmiles worked with the program, and then decided establish it further to welcome all women from the Montgomery Blair especially those who are not a part of the magnet program. Redmiles applied for and has received a NCWIT Student Seed Fund Award (also funded by Google) to fund the new part of the program with materials and activities to encourage all women from the high school to learn about Computer...

Bryant Lee, '06, who is also a graduate of Harvard Law School, has founded a start-up called Justice Toolbox , which helps individuals find the best attorneys for their cases. He has combined his work in the law and his degree in computer science to help people search for lawyers using sophisticated data and machine learning techniques. Lee was kind enough to sit down with us to talk for a few minutes about his life after the University of Maryland, what is like to found a startup dealing with law, and his future plans. Listen to an audio interview with Bryant Lee Listen to an audio interview...

Continuing a tradition of excellence in undergraduate research in Computer Science, Prayaag Venkat and Ashton Webster were awarded Honorable Mention by the Computing Research Association for their undergraduate research projects on December 9th 2016. Venkat conducted research with Professor Samir Khuller and Professor Dave Mount. Webster conducted research with Professor Jim Purtilo and Professor Michel Cukier (of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering). While they were preparing for exams, Venkat and Webster kindly corresponded about their research that they conducted...